We reached out to Canada’s three airlines using the now-grounded Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets to see what contingency plans they have implemented:

AIR CANADA:

“We typically operate approximately 75 737 MAX flights daily out of a total schedule of approximately 1600 daily flights system-wide, representing less than 6% of our total flying. We have a total fleet of 400 aircraft (including 24 737 MAX), comprising Air Canada mainline, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express aircraft. We are making adjustments to our schedule to minimize the disruption to customers as much as possible, by optimizing the deployment of the rest of our fleet and looking at alternative options, including accommodating customers on other airlines.”

“While 168 of WestJet’s fleet are still operational, WestJet has temporarily grounded all 13 Boeing MAX aircraft and is working through the resulting cancellations which will continue to affect guest travel. We are in the process of reconfiguring our schedule to remove all 737 MAX 8 flights and move guests to other aircraft which could include our fleet of Boeing 737 NGs, 767, 787 or Bombardier Q400s. The updated schedule will be implemented in our booking system on Monday, March 18; however, until then, we are working through guest rebooking on a day-to-day basis.”

SUNWING:

“We are finalizing a revised schedule to accommodate the temporary removal of our MAX aircraft from service and we appreciate the patience of our retail partners and customers while we work to communicate these updates. We will endeavor to minimize the impact of these schedule changes and we will not be cancelling any flights as a result. We have 4 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, representing just under 10% of our fleet.”